SLO County restaurant empire adds new seafood spot — and tacos are next
A new seafood restaurant is the latest addition to a San Luis Obispo County restaurant empire that includes Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ and Tortilla Town in Paso Robles.
Kicker’s celebrated its soft opening Feb. 10 at 885 Embarcadero in Morro Bay. The new waterfront eatery is located in the block between Harbor and Front streets, where Port House restaurant used to be.
“Kicker’s has a different feel than everything else around here in Morro Bay,” owner Roger Sharp said. “I really like the Embarcadero. It’s a very nice, quiet, unique location.”
The eatery is the eighth entry in a local chain that includes Nate’s Nashville Hot Chicken in Paso Robles, Slappy’s Chowder House in Oceano and Blue Sky Bistro and Big Rock Sweet Shop in Morro Bay, as well as a few food trucks. There’s also a second Tortilla Town location in San Luis Obispo.
Sharp said another restaurant — Tito’s Red Tacos in Pismo Beach — will be opening soon.
New Morro Bay restaurant opens on Embarcadero
According to Sharp, the opening of Kicker’s comes “after six months of cleaning, painting, refining and putting together a creative menu.”
The new restaurant features an L-shaped dining area with old barnwood on the walls, open beams and lots of stone and brick. There’s a mix of bistro and regular tables along with booths, which encourages a casual flow of communication between diners.
“I’m super happy with the way it’s laid out,” Sharp, 58, said. “I wanted some color, a vibrant feel to lighten it up a little, make it more casual.”
The Kicker’s kitchen is helmed by chef Jake Irwin, who grew up in San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande. He worked as a chef in Arizona and Alaska before spending more than eight years in Big Sky, Montana, where he won an award as the city’s most creative chef.
Menu features seafood, specialty cocktails
Kicker’s puts a heavy emphasis on seafood and fish — with about six times more oceanic entrees than other kinds of dishes.
Whole fish, oysters on the half shell and shellfish are on display in an ice bar.
Starting with appetizers such as oyster shooters, ceviche, a shrimp cocktail and blue fin carpaccio with truffle oil, seafood offereings include pastas, tacos, sandwiches, steamed shellfish and roasted and grilled oysters.
Among the more unusual menu items are a wild salmon bahn mi roll, a smashed crab-and-beef melt and Reuben-style sandwiches featuring calamari steak or ling cod.
The menu also includes some updated classics, such as lobster mac-and-cheese, two chowders, bouillabaisse and a Mediterranean seafood stew.
Diners can satisfy their sweet tooth with desserts including a sponge carrot cake with candied carrots and butterscotch sauce and a chocolate bar with vanilla bourbon, Tahitian vanilla bean mousse and vanilla glaze.
The beverage menu is extensive, too, with more than 20 beers on tap, local wines and specialty cocktails made with soju, a Korean alcoholic beverage that’s popular with restaurants only licensed to sell drinks with lower alcohol contents.
How business owner started SLO County food empire
A Paso Robles High School graduate, Sharp was still a teenager when he started his restaurant career with a churro cart in 1981.
Sharp said he was inspired by working at the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles a year earlier.
“I just loved it … the energy, all the people, the whole entertainment side of it,” he said.
Sharp opened his first restaurant, Good Ol’ Burgers in Paso Robles, in 1988. He launched Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ in the same 24th Street complex more than a decade later, in 2002.
Sharp eventually expanded the Big Bubba’s brand to three other locations, including Merced and Visalia, but eventually cut back “to concentrate on San Luis Obispo County,” Sharp said.
Good Ol’ Burgers closed in 2019, and was eventually replaced by Nate’s Nashville Hot Chicken in 2022. Now that restaurant sits next to Big Bubba’s and Sharp’s first Tortilla Town restaurant.
Sharp has also expanded his culinary empire into the world of food concessions.
Customers can find his Big Bubba’s, Good Ol’ Burgers and Garlicky’s concession units at “all kinds of events,” he said, such as NASCAR races, music concerts, rodeos and fairs in Fresno, Los Angeles and Orange counties. He recently completed a long gig at the Denver National Livestock Show.
At the Mid-State Fair, Sharp sells Nate’s Nashville Hot Chicken and Garlicky’s products as well as beer, operating one permanent location and two mobile units.
“I could probably make a lot more money in something else other than the restaurant business, but I love it,” Sharp said. “It’s interactive, interesting, a team culture and for me, honestly, the best part is the creative part, from planning the dishes to themes.”
Kicker’s
Through the winter, Kicker’s will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Sharp and Irwin said that as the season ramps up, the restaurant will be open seven days a week.
For more details, call 805-225-1769 or visit morrobaykickers.com. You can also follow Kicker’s on Facebook or follow Sharp on Facebook and Tiktok.
This story was originally published February 13, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
